Christmas Morning

 We had a nice, quiet Christmas morning. The boys woke up at their usual early time, but they know if I'm not already up exercising that they should not come in our room, so they stayed in theirs playing until they heard Austin and I talking. They got some board games, books, and pajamas from us (Heidi just got pajamas from her brothers), but the gifts they seemed to enjoy the most were the toys they picked out for each other. They also really liked what Santa brought them- a kid-sized shovel and rake. After all the presents were opened, Austin made us chocolate waffles with whipped cream and strawberries and we spent the rest of the morning playing our new games and reading our new books until it was time to go over to Austin's parents house. It was a very enjoyable Christmas! (Please note how great these pictures turned out with our new 50mm camera lens-my dad's gift to Austin and I :) I've been wanting this lens to get the bokeh look since we got our camera. Some didn't turn out quite right because we are still getting used to it, but I'm so excited to have it!)

7 MONTHS

Our Little Miss is 7 months old now and continues to be a little ray of sunshine in our family. She is such a happy little girl and very content most of the time. She is able to sit up on her own for longer periods now (although she occasionally topples over still) and will sit and play with whatever is around her. Her Aunt Renee has been able to just set her by the Christmas tree and let her play with the lower branches for about 40 minutes at a time- I've never tried this just because our tree is in a remote corner of the house, but Renee said she is super happy. I've found that as long as she has some toys to play with and her brothers around I can set her on the floor and do my morning workout without much problem. She loves to smile and interact with people still. Lots of times while I'm holding her but distracted by the other things that are going on, she will stick her face right in mine to get my attention. She also does something that I call hugging: when I'm holding her, especially when I pick her up after a day at work, she nestles in as close as she can get and kind of curls her body up around me. Sometimes she buries her face in my shoulder like she just can't get herself close enough. I love how snuggly she is! Of course her brothers still adore her and sometimes fight over who gets to be right in front of her. They are both very good about helping with anything I ask them to. Although Heidi is sitting and rolling over really well, she is showing no sign of trying to crawl or get around in any other way. I thought this was kind of strange given how interested she is in what her brothers are up to, then I realized that there is no real need for her to go anywhere- they always come to her bearing toys and anything they can think of to entertain her. Heidi's favorite toy is currently her tongue. She loves to suck on it, stick it out, and move it to the left. Austin captured this in a couple of the pictures below.Heidi has been eating solids once a day (most days) for awhile now and gets so excited when she sees me getting the bowl and spoon out. She flaps her arms and squeals with a huge smile on her face when I feed her to show me how much she likes it. The only complaint I have about Heidi is that she is growing up too fast!

Leif's birthday interview

Since we were traveling, I forgot to give Leif a birthday interview, We are a week late, but here are his answers (plus some bonus pictures):

Who is your favorite person? mommy
What is your favorite color? green
What is your favorite thing to watch on TV? Dusty (Planes Fire and Rescue)
What is your favorite outfit? Polar bear shirt (this just happens to be the shirt he was wearing- Leif isn’t very picky about what clothes he wears most of the time)
What song do you like the best? Twinkle Little Star
What is your favorite cereal?  Regular cheerios
Who is your best friend? Heidi
What do you want to do when you grow up? A chef that can bake stuff (this was chosen from a list I gave him)
What is your favorite book? Pete the Cat and the Bad Banana
What are you really good at? Tricks (jumping on the couches and love sack)
Where do you wish you could go on vacation? Camping
What would you buy is you had a lot of money? Food
What is your favorite dinner? Chicken nuggets (he has these for lunch all the time, but his real favorite dinner is meat loaf)
If you could have a wish, what would it be? Hide (said as he was wrapping himself up in a blanket)
What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Green ice cream (mint chocolate chip)
Who do you want to be like? Dusty (the airplane character from his favorite movie)
What do you like to do with your friends? Play
What do you hope you'll get to do before your next birthday? All I got from him was a bunch of nonsense, so I don’t think he understood the question
What is your favorite thing to do? Watch movies
What are you proud of? Playing
What are you afraid of? Bad guys
What is Mom's favorite thing to do? Work out
How strong is Dad? So big
What does Dad do best? Fix things
What does Mom do best? Make food
What do you like best about Dad? Playing with him
What do you like best about Mom? Playing with her

THREE YEARS

Wow! Leif is three years old already! I've been calling him my three-year-old for the last month or so, but I can't believe it's really true.In some ways Leif seems so little to me- probably because I sometimes unconsciously expect him to be at the same level his brother is. But in other ways he seems so grown up to me- probably because he has a big brother to imitate and seems to have met a lot of developmental milestones earlier than is typical. He seems caught between being  little and being a big kid and he tells us so all the time. He goes back and forth between the two many times a day just depending on which suits his purposes for the moment. If he wants to skip his nap, he is big. But if I ask him to sit on the toilet, he is suddenly little. (We are working on the potty training thing, but it's a tricky subject with him).
One of Leif's defining characteristics is his silliness. Leif just loves to be silly- he loves to make up words (including an entire song of made-up words that seems to be the same every time he sings it, but he denies that he knows what any of the words are or that he even sings the song) and he loves to call people names- not when he is angry-just because he thinks its so funny to call someone a name. When Leif is upset (which, lets face it, happens quite a bit :) the fastest way to get him out of it is to be silly with him. Austin figured this out much sooner than I did and is a pro at getting Leif to cheer up or forget about whatever upset him by being silly (this typically involves the word "poop" or some absurd story). Being the mom I am, I'm more likely to try to sooth Leif out being upset or get irritated that he is crying about something so silly, neither of which is a great option for him. I find that when I try to act like Austin would and just be as silly as I can Leif is more likely to get back to being himself (although I refuse to use "poop" to do the trick).
Leif absolutely loves cuties oranges. We bought a box a couple weeks ago only to have them devoured by the next day. Asher helped eat some of them, but Leif ate the majority of them and even opted for an orange over a cookie that Austin offered him. When we go to the store Leif requests a box of cuties every time. A few days ago I decided to buy regular sized oranges instead of cuties because they were on sale at a much better price. I figured getting 7 of them would be plenty and should last a week since the boys would share one and only eat one a day. I was very wrong- Leif ate two of them as soon as we got home (he wanted more but I said no) and the rest disappeared in the next couple days. This boy just loves his citrus!
Another funny little Leif-ism is his tendency to wear his pants backward. Leif has been getting himself dressed most of the time for months now. The boys enjoy going into their room, picking out their own clothes, and getting dressed. Very often Leif comes out with his pants on backward- it happens well over 50% of the time so I have to assume its not just chance. He also often gets upset if Austin or I try to turn his pants around for him. I'm not sure if he feels like its an insult on the way he did it or if he truly does enjoy having his pants backward. Maybe its a little manifestation of his love of silliness.
Leif loves to talk about time- and in a way that makes it obvious he doesn't really understand it. He's always talking about "next day"  or "last day" or asking if something is going to take a certain number of hours. Instead of telling Leif "no" I often tell him that maybe he can have or do something next time, so he has started telling me he will do it next time if I ever deny him. Its really nice for him to reassure himself this way instead of having a fit about it, but there are some things that I'm never going to let him do or have that he is convinced he will get later (although he usually forgets about it by the time 'later' comes around).
Leif loves to hang upside down. Its not hard to catch him with his feet in the air-usually on the couch. I guess this isn't surprising since even as a baby he loved to arch his back and hang his head upside down.
Leif has recently taken to saying "Hello, Mr. Gump" all the time and out of the blue. Sometimes he says it to me with a sly little smile on his face, but other times he doesn't seem to be talking to anyone- he's just saying it for fun. I'm not sure who Mr. Gump is, but I'm guessing he got it from a Dr. Seuss book we read.
We are sure glad that this kid is part of our family! Here are some pictures I got of him-although the one with his "birthday pie" didn't turn out very well. (Poor kid will always get pumpkin pie for his birthday with it being so close to Thanksgiving)

The Incredible, No-Snow-Needed Snowman

The boys, especially Leif, have been eager for it to snow so we could make a snowman. They get really excited when it looks cloudy. We have been teased a few times with a dusting of snow, but nothing substantial enough to even stick to the ground. So, I decided to create a way for the boys to make snowmen without snow- Marshmallows! They loved the idea- you can't eat a real snowman when you are done with it- at least it wouldn't taste nearly as good. We just used a tooth pick to hold three marshmallows together, used broken pretzel sticks for the arms, left over candy corn for the nose, and mini chocolate chips for the eyes (this was Asher's idea). I'm sure we could have thought up more ways to dress up our snowmen, but this made them more than happy. I tried to incorporate a few oreos we had- maybe as part of a top hat, but that idea never got realized and the boys just ate the oreos instead. It was an afternoon snack with a lot more sugar than usual, but the boys were delighted with it :)

SIX MONTHS

It's hard to believe that our baby is already half a year old! Time goes by so fast and it only seems to be speeding by faster all the time. Heidi is still the sweetest little girl- happy to be around people and easily entertained. She has had a cough and stuffy nose for the last several weeks and not been sleeping well, so I've been remembering what it's like to have a baby that wakes up a lot. She does still love her sleep though and is very happy when bedtime comes around. Austin is usually in charge of swaddling her before she goes to sleep for the night because he has always done a better job at it than I do. When Heidi sees Dad coming she gets happy and gives him huge smiles when he lays her on her swaddling blanket and starts wrapping her up. I've never seen a baby so happy to know that she is being put to bed. 
Heidi is almost able to sit up on her own. If I let her hold onto my fingers she is quite pleased to try to keep her balance sitting up, but can only do it on her own for 30-60 seconds at a time
. She does sit at a high chair at the kitchen counter, which is nice because I can do work around the kitchen while she watches me or the boys can sit next to her on their stools and entertain her.
Heidi is starting to get really wiggly and needs constant entertainment. She grabs anything that comes near her, especially if it is something she hasn't seen before. She wants to explore and learn about everything. I have to be really careful when she is sitting on my lap at the dinner table because she will grab anything on my plate that is close enough. She ended up with a handful of hot rice the other night and didn't know how to let it go. I had to peel her fingers open while Austin wiped the rice out. Luckily it wasn't hot enough to burn her, but we could tell she didn't like it. She also squirms all over the place while I'm changing her diaper. Obviously her changing table is nothing new or exciting to her, so she has no interest in just lying there while I get a clean diaper on her. She twists her body while she tries to get a new view and whenever she spots her bare feet (they are usually covered by whatever clothes or socks she has on) she grabs them like they are some new toy to explore.
We have found that Heidi really loves when we make clicking or kissy noises with our mouth. I use this trick especially when she is tired and grumpy. I'm not always quite ready to but her to bed when she wants to go, but if I click or kiss at her, she will cheer up, smile, and giggle which buys me a little time to get everything ready to put her to bed. She really is such a happy baby and easy to please.
A little problem we're having with Little Miss is that she is now refusing to take a bottle while I'm at work. She was never super happy to have a bottle, but she would take it when she got hungry. Now, she just refuses to eat more than a little bit and prefers to be hungry and grumpy until I get there to nurse her. Of course I can't just let her go hungry and be a grump for whoever is watching her (either her Aunt Renee or her dad) so I've had to take off work in the middle of the day to come feed her. Luckily I have a really flexible job and I haven't been as busy as usual lately so this has worked out. I'm especially glad I only work 2 days a week and can be with her the rest of the time, but I sure hope she gets over this soon. We have introduced her to solid food which she seems to love, so that can help a bit. I made her sweet potatoes and acorn squash baby food and she seemed to like both, but had a difficult time trying to figure out how to eat it- like most babies.The first time I made rice cereal for her, I only made a little bit because I wasn't sure how she would take to it, but when she finished it she started crying while I hurried to make more. I'd say this is her preferred solid food for now, so we'll stick to it for awhile.
I think I say this about every age, but I really love this stage and don't want it to pass. Heidi is getting a little  independent in that she plays by herself with toys for a little while, but she is still my little baby that would rather snuggle me than do anything else. I love seeing how eager she is to take in every new sight, sound, or experience that she encounters. Most of all I just love the sunshine that she brings into our family. Every member of our family is head over heels for Little Miss and is happy just to be around her!
Here are pictures of our little girl on her 1/2 birthday:

Halloween

We have been looking forward to Halloween and trick-or-treating all month! We have been practicing knocking and saying "trick-or-treat" and "thank you" with stuffed animals for weeks. We have been preparing and wearing our costumes for even longer. The boys (and mom)were very excited for it to finally arrive. The boys kept talking all day about when it would get dark and it seemed to take forever, but it finally happened :) Since the pumpkins we carved a few weeks ago were rotten and we had two left over, we decided to carve them. The boys helped me clean them and picked out what they wanted on them, then I carved. We went trick-or-treating at Grandma and Grandpa's house in the afternoon, then came home for dinner and to get ready. I was anticipating that Austin and I would have to take the boys separately while one of us stayed home with Heidi, but she was very happy to go with us in my baby carrier and just fell asleep without much fuss when she got tired. We went around our neighborhood for a couple hours (we only got about 2 streets covered though) then came home because everyone was tired. The boys picked a few treats and Austin popped the popcorn one neighbor gave them and they enjoyed their treats while they watched 'Its the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown'. After we finally got them into bed, Leif played a trick on us by throwing up all over their room several times throughout the night. Poor little guy either ate too much candy or had a stomach bug. We aren't sure which. Here are some photos to capture the day:

35 Months

This boy is just a month away from turning 3! Where did the time go? When did my little guy get so big? Leif continues to be himself- happier and sillier than can be one minute and pouting or whining the next :) His newest thing is to recite nursery rhymes. When I say one that he likes he will ask me to say it again and again until he memorizes it, then I will catch him later reciting it to himself or to Heidi. I guess this isn't too surprising given his love of songs- nursery rhymes are pretty similar. Leif has also decided that he doesn't like napping anymore- which is not a good idea for him. He is often the first person up in the morning or gets up at the same time I do and is almost always the last kid asleep. Its a rare evening when Leif doesn't come out of his room at least once, but more often twelve times. He's always wandering around looking for something or has some other excuse for being out of bed. So by the time nap time comes around each day, he is more than ready for a nap, but he has been fighting us on it. I think he realizes that Asher is often up and playing while he is napping and he's not thrilled about missing out on the fun. Yesterday Asher and I raked leaves and filled up a pumpkin bag while Heidi and Leif napped, so when he woke up I let him help fill up the other bag. They are very proud of their pumpkins and know very well which bag belongs to which kid. Tonight was our church Halloween party, so here is Leify in his Halloween costume:

Five Months

This sweet little princess is five months old already! The boys and I were raking up leaves for a couple hours today and she napped through a lot of it, but I also thought it would be good for her to get out in the fresh air too. She rode in my baby wrap for quite awhile while I raked and didn't complain at all when I bonked her with my arm as I was raking. She is so even tempered and content most of the time. I say it all the time, but she is such an easy baby. Part of it is her disposition and part of it is having two brothers to constantly entertain and love her. Not a lot has changed since she turned 4 months old- she is the same happy girl. She is growing like crazy and loves attention. One of my favorite times of the day is when Austin comes home in the evenings. Aside from the obvious reasons that I love this time of day, I also love to watch Heidi try to get his attention. She loves her daddy and will make all kinds of faces at him and flail her arms around in his direction to try to compete with everyone else for the first few minutes of attention. Sometimes at dinner she makes it very obvious that she would rather sit with him than with me. We are so happy to have this girl in our family- she is a little ray of sunshine for everyone!